Dan Gilbert's Ideas Change Nothing

I cannot say that I agreed with much that Dan Gilbert had to say.  I found myself taking notes on his theories and automatically noting my disagreement with them. The flaws that I found rest mostly in the theories dealing with monetary value.  When Dan suggested that people are too "stupid" (his vernacular was over the top in my opinion) to see that the difference between a declining salary from 60k --> 40k and an increasing salary from 35k-->50k is a 25k difference, over time, if you were to accept the declining salary.  Well, many people cannot continually adjust their lifestyle to feel comfortable with a declining salary even if they do make more in the long run.  It is more than a dollar amount, its a lifestyle change that people consider. 

Further, the idea of comparing the past and the possible did not relate to my life.  He mentioned the ticket example.  Well, if I spent $20 on an item and I lost that item, I would not pay $20 again for the same thing.  That is because I would like to spend that $20 on something different - a new experience perhaps.  Also, the example with the _ _ R _ and R_ _ _ (trying to decide if the english language has more words containing R in the 3rd place or R as the first letter) did not apply to me.  I knew off the bat that there are more words with R in the third place.  I think Dan underestimates the human mind to a serious degree. 

I was SO pleased with the audience member who poked holes in Dan's lottery ticket theory.  Dan's response did not impress me. I agree with the audience member's point that many people buy lottery tickets for something other than winning, they buy them for the anticipation and excitement. 

Sorry if this was really opinionated!!!! I just think he underestimates the human mind and emotions. Thanks for the opportunity to listen to him and challenge my mind!